Redbox Instant (CSTR, VZ) has finally launched. The service, initially slated to go live in Q4...

Redbox Instant (CSTR, VZ) has finally launched. The service, initially slated to go live in Q4 '12, offers access to 4.6K titles and 4 Redbox DVD rentals for $8/month. Another 4K movies are available for renting/purchasing. Original programming might be offered at some point, but CEO Shawn Strickland considers speculation on this front "really premature." For the time being, Instant's content library is much smaller than Netflix's (NFLX), and so is the breadth of its hardware ecosystem - will the Redbox DVDs be enough to get Netflix subs to defect?

This looks like an even worse deal than previously noted. If the above release is accurate, 4,000 out of the 8,600 titles available online will only be available for an extra charge--hardly a bargain.

A further check of the "rent/buy" section of the Redbox Instant website shows that the current purchase price of those selections is $9.99 ($14.99 for HD), with a rental price of $2.99 ($3.99 for HD). Moreover, many of those releases are available for purchase only, with no rental option at all! The costs would really start to add up.

The Netflix share price may go up or down for any number of reasons over the next few months, but this new Redbox plan, as it currently stands, does not look like any kind of big new benefit to the consumer.

I hope this becomes a "Blockbuster" moment. Meaning I would love to see great business model execution by Redbox in same manner that Neflex performed on Blockbuster movie rentals. However Verizon is surely no friend of the consumer. Come on Redbox we want to see you win but, watch which bed fellows you embrace.